San Jose: Firefighters lead daring rescue of woman who fell from cliff in Alum Rock Park

SAN JOSE -- A specialized team of firefighters braved steep terrain to rappel down to and rescue a woman who fell nearly 40 feet off a cliff at Alum Rock Park on Tuesday morning, according to the San Jose Fire Department.

Authorities got a 911 call around 9:50 a.m. reporting that a woman in her 30s fell off Eagle Rock, located between the Upper Penitencia Creek and Alum Rock Falls Road about a half-mile west of the Youth Science Institute.

San Jose firefighters got to the scene within about 10 minutes and summoned its Urban Search and Rescue team because of the challenging terrain where the woman fell, fire Capt. Mike Van Elgort said.

"This is one of their areas of expertise," he said.

A squad of rescuers, including one trained in advanced life support, rappelled down to the woman.

"They were able to stabilize her to a degree and keep her alive until we found a means of extricating her," Van Elgort said.

That means came in the form of two rescue helicopters, one each from the California Highway Patrol and Life Flight. The CHP's H32 chopper used its winch to lift the woman from the fall site and onto the roadway, where she was loaded into the second helicopter and taken to the nearby Regional Medical Center of San Jose.

Van Elgort said the woman suffered critical injuries in the fall and did not regain consciousness over the course of the extraction. He also noted that good visibility and a highly coordinated rescue effort helped give her a fighting chance.

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"A lot of moving parts worked together for a swift rescue," Van Elgort said. "Multiple agencies including county EMS and Life Flight did a phenomenal job. We all train together, so we were prepared."